In Conversation with Gabriel Garzón-Montano

Jamal Gray & Jack Inslee interview Gabriel Garzón-Montana, a multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter. Brooklyn-born and raised child of immigrant parents, Gabriel’s aesthetic is an extension of his French-Colombian heritage. His influence is a pastiche of Bach sonatas, Cumbia records, and the machine gun funk that echoes up and down Nostrand Ave. His mother, a member of the Philip Glass ensemble in the 1990s, instilled within him a painstaking attention to detail that remains a hallmark of his process. “She is the reason that I love music,” he says. Her rigorous classical instruction formed the foundation on which he honed his skills over the years in the lab, copping Stevie’s changes, studying Prince’s lyrics, and absorbing the beat theses of Timbaland, Dilla, and Pete Rock.